Thanksgiving comes around early here

Sometimes disappointed plans can be a good thing. I went to bed on Friday night all excited about a long bike ride I had planned for the next day. I knew I was probably being a little overly hopeful as it's been off-and-on rainy here recently. Sure enough, I awoke Saturday morning to gray, clouds, and drizzle. Checked the weekend weather forecast: Sunday was supposed to be nice(r). OK. That could work. Grad school apps Saturday, bike ride Sunday. As it turned out, the drizzle stopped by afternoon. Realizing it was "German Reunification Day," I walked into the city where there was a market, extra-long shopping hours, and a ton of people. The vendors sold standard farmer's market fare--fresh produce, homemade jellies, and crafts--in addition to a seemingly inordinate amount of sausage. And flowers! More than you could imagine; unless you've been to Germany, and then maybe you can. I bought some apples from a couple nice ladies for a Euro a kilo (really cheap!) that happened to be just about the best apples I've ever had. Firm and crisp and juicy and pleasantly sour. I should have got another 2 or 3 kilos. There were a ton of people out for the festivities, and almost all of the downtown shops were open, despite the fact that it was a Saturday and a holiday. The atmosphere in the town was just great, and I had a good time: a few street musicians, early fall weather, good-tempered people speaking German and I'm content.

After I got back to my dorm, I got a call from the civics teacher at my school, inviting me to go with his family to the "Erntedankfest" (thanksgiving) service at a church the next day. I agreed, of course, moderately disappointed that my bike ride was going to be yet again delayed. As it turned out, Sunday was approximately the windiest day ever, and riding a bike over long distances would have been terrible. I rode for about a half-hour that morning, which was quite enough for me. The church service, unlike most in small-town East Germany, was well-attended. Thanksgiving in Germany is strictly a church celebration--no big feasts or football games or even much recognition. The church was in a farming area outside of Greifswald, so people brought with them home-grown produce, as well as store-bought bread and flowers and potatoes. They piled everything up on a table in front of the altar and the preacher talked about being thankful for what we have...and some other kind of tangential topics. The service was interesting for me, because it seemed more relaxed than other German "evangelische" (protestant) services I've been to (admittedly, not that many). The pastor exuded energy and even succeeded in getting the congregation to sing and clap along with his guitar-playing and the kids' singing.* After the service, everyone went to a nearby building for coffee and cake. Yum. Germans are cake-baking experts. And the coffee wasn't bad either.

The teacher (named Jürgen, incidentally) took a long detour home to show me around the agricultural area and the beach opposite downtown Greifswald. The wind, as already mentioned, was super strong, so the water was dotted with white caps, and the brush and pine trees leading up to the beach were all blowing toward the water. Jürgen told me all about the farms in the area and talked about differences between the DDR time and post-reunification. From what I gather, Greifswald was in pretty bad shape under communism. I've seen pictures of dilapidated buildings and rubble and poorly-maintained streets. After the wall fell, the upkeep was much better. Building materials were no longer luxury goods. However, in some cases, reunification had the opposite effect. Many large farm houses now stand empty and run-down because of the large number of people who left once the border opened. I was surprised to find that this exit-trend still continues. Of 27 students who went to a recent 10-year reunion at the high school, he said, only two were still living in the east.

The ex-East effect is also visible in the churches. Certainly, it's a Germany-wide trend that church attendance is shrinking, but since it was so strongly discouraged by the Soviets, it's extra-unpopular here. Jürgen said that when he goes to church, there are maybe 4 or 5 people at the service. I think a big part of this issues is that Germany has SO MANY churches! They were built when everybody used to go; now no ones goes, but the buildings/congregations still exist still have a pastor preaching there. I'd think a little consolidation might be in order. Then again, I wouldn't support tearing them down, and I don't know how else they're going to be maintained.

So, in sum: good weekend. I really can not get over how in love with this place I am. I'm struck like 3 or 4 times a day by how beautiful it is, both from a natural and an architectural perspective. ** Also, the atmosphere's just great. Like at that market on Saturday, or with any of the genuinely friendly people I've met here. Plus, it's the East! From a curious-about-everything historian's perspective, I got pretty lucky!

In other news: found out today that I have money in and access to my new bank account! That's a very good thing. I feel like I'm spending a lot, and now maybe I'll finally stop mentally converting all the Euro prices into dollars!
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*Reminded me a lot of Tedd, for anyone to whom that means something.
**Learned that much of the architecture here is called "Backsteingotisch" (red-brick gothic). No wonder I like it--combines a good architectural style with one of my favorite building materials!